Some think that the sole aim of the ruling class is to save the banks. That is too simple. There are contradictions between different sections of the capitalist class, and the bankers represent only one section. In Britain the weight of finance capital is very great because of the destruction of British manufacturing industry. But even in Britain the Tory-LibDem coalition has been forced to put pressure on ...

”The Greek economy is truly broken. The circuits of credit are so badly damaged that even efficient, profitable firms have been cut out of the capital markets …. Moreover, the new spending cuts… will give the forces of recession another boost. To cut a long story short, there is no doubt that such loosening up will simply prolong the agonising death of the Greek social economy.” –Yanis Varoufakis, economist ...

The Occupy movement has been an extremely exciting development. Unprecedented, in fact. There’s never been anything like it that I can think of.  If the bonds and associations it has established can be sustained through a long, dark period ahead — because victory won’t come quickly — it could prove a significant moment in American history. The fact that the Occupy movement is unprecedented is quite appropri ...

As Greece faces the most important election in a generation, its public healthcare system is on the verge of total collapse, with many hospitals forced to cancel operations. Greek documentary maker Aris Chatzistefanou, whose films Debtocracy and Catastroika have made him one of the most exciting young voices in Europe was given access to Nikaia hospital to meet the doctors struggling to keep their patients ...

Saturday June 16th Solidarity rally 15:00 Beursplein, Amsterdam From Athens to Amsterdam: NO to the cutbacks! Solidarity with the Greek resistance against European austerity The developments in Greece concern all of us. The long-lasting implementation of harsh austerity measures has led the country into a deep social crisis. The EU and the IMF demand the continuation of these disastrous policies in Greece a ...

Three years down the line, with Europe steadily driving Greece to the brink, the international media continues its smear campaign against the Greek people. By Ingeborg Beugel, Dutch journalist and author of The anti-Greece campaign of the international media, a widely-read essay published by ROAR last year. “Connie, how is the situation there in Greece?” “Well, people are quite afraid of the future. I notic ...

We live in Europe where currently any alternative suggestion about how to structure our society and economy is met with negative criticism by the media and the vast majority of our society. Any movement or development that questions the “economic orthodoxy” is treated at best as non realistic and at worst as dangerous. At the same time, the rise of nationalism, racism, fascism and Nazism does not seem to ra ...

In the millions of words written about Europe’s debt crisis, Germany is typically cast as the responsible adult and Greece as the profligate child. Prudent Germany, the narrative goes, is loath to bail out freeloading Greece, which borrowed more than it could afford and now must suffer the consequences. Would it surprise you to know that Europe’s taxpayers have provided as much financial support to Germany ...

The threat of a Greek exit The escalating Greek crisis leaves Ireland and Portugal, in particular, ever more vulnerable   THE deep uncertainty over what will happen next in Greece unnerved financial markets. On May 7th the euro touched its lowest value against the dollar since January while in Athens the stockmarket fell by 7% and bank stocks by 13%. Greek bonds also took a hit, with the yield on the t ...

Here's the full transcript of our interview with Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, who has been President of Iceland since 1996, and announced last month he would be running for a fifth term. Keep reading to hear his thoughts on Iceland's recovery, and how a large financial sector can ruin the world. How has life in Iceland changed since the meltdown? It’s very difficult to give a short description of how life has ch ...